SATURDAY
The Holiday Song
Part Two of Sister-kind
Part Two of Sister-kind
Ok, so I’m acting out a scene out of Lost in Translation where I’m ushered off a flight in the middle of night, I’m dead tired, zombie like. We’re told in four different languages to find a gate at the other end of the satellite terminal and it’s like an Easter egg hunt.
So I wander around on travelators that speed up the walking process and pass by hundreds of name brand stores along the way.
In order to successfully depart the satellite terminal you need to cross over to the main terminal, they usually use a monorail transit system to achieve this but after getting off the flight I’m told that they’re redeveloping the link between the arrivals terminal and the main terminal, and since train service isn’t up and running we’re told that we’ll be catching a bus on the other side of the building.
So I keep to the left and follow a series of card board signs that say the gate number and when I do find the gate I board a low level bus that takes me to the main airport terminal. We squeeze in until its standing room only, Oh and guess who’s standing? Then a few moments later we’re off, I’m gripping onto a handrail for stability and watching condensation bead and drip down the windows, there is aircon on the bus but with the top slits of windows open all I can feel is the humidity.
Unlike Perth there is no such thing as the evening sea breeze, it’s midnight and I’m already sticky and I haven’t even made it to the main terminal yet.
When I do get to the main terminal I’m again met with travelators that herd us towards the international zone. The customs area is still further away and in between there are several metal detectors and sniffer scans that serve as pit stops.
Along the way I manage to get lost and go up a series of escalators and find stores which are part of an even bigger shopping area than what I saw within the satellite terminal. So I stop, accepting the fact that I’d wandered off the path and within 5 mins I back tracked until I was comfortable that I was back on course and headed in the right direction towards the final bank of customs desks to gain entry into KL.
After arriving at the desk I realised that I had lost my tourist slip which serves as a statement as to why I wish to visit the country, the armed beret wearing man casually advised I fill out another.
At this time of night the customs area was such a lonely place, albeit from a screaming African man I was the only other tourist here and the customs guys were obviously tired, bored with the screaming man demanding his entry be accepted.
So after a quick scan of my passport my beret wearing customs officer let me pass and then I was off to the luggage claim. Once I found my arrivals carousel I saw only a few people wandering around but none were waiting for their luggage like me. I saw a few items on the carousel but there were no bags cycling through, I freaked. After ten minutes of watching nothing and seeing no one I walked to the front section of the carousel and to my surprise I found that there were 5 bags all lined up side by side and that one of these bags was mine.
Someone had made it a point to line the suitcases up rather than have them cycling through the carousel, so with my luggage acquired and carry handle arm extended I rolled on towards the pre-paid taxi booths, bought a pre paid voucher then headed out the sliding glass doors to find a cab.
Along the way I manage to get lost and go up a series of escalators and find stores which are part of an even bigger shopping area than what I saw within the satellite terminal. So I stop, accepting the fact that I’d wandered off the path and within 5 mins I back tracked until I was comfortable that I was back on course and headed in the right direction towards the final bank of customs desks to gain entry into KL.
After arriving at the desk I realised that I had lost my tourist slip which serves as a statement as to why I wish to visit the country, the armed beret wearing man casually advised I fill out another.
At this time of night the customs area was such a lonely place, albeit from a screaming African man I was the only other tourist here and the customs guys were obviously tired, bored with the screaming man demanding his entry be accepted.
So after a quick scan of my passport my beret wearing customs officer let me pass and then I was off to the luggage claim. Once I found my arrivals carousel I saw only a few people wandering around but none were waiting for their luggage like me. I saw a few items on the carousel but there were no bags cycling through, I freaked. After ten minutes of watching nothing and seeing no one I walked to the front section of the carousel and to my surprise I found that there were 5 bags all lined up side by side and that one of these bags was mine.
Someone had made it a point to line the suitcases up rather than have them cycling through the carousel, so with my luggage acquired and carry handle arm extended I rolled on towards the pre-paid taxi booths, bought a pre paid voucher then headed out the sliding glass doors to find a cab.
Despite the gritty description surrounding my arrival the ride into the city was rather nice in contrast. It was soothing to get into a car and have someone else drive you around. For my pre paid voucher I got an upgraded vehicle, a Proton Saloon dark in navy blue with a dark brown leather interior. Initially I had made the mistake of walking up to the cab driver and proceeding to sit in the front passenger seat next to him, this is fairly normal in Perth taxis and he was confused. So I stopped handed him my bag and he in turn gestured for me to sit in the back.
Once inside the back of the taxi a gentle calm came over me, Oh it was nice, I lounged about freely with no seatbelt, I stretched out tried neck and back muscles against the smooth leather. With the electric window half way down and the aircon working it’s charm, I took in the lights of distant tower block apartments and marvelled at how much of the street signs and billboard advertising were in English. Thankfully the driver knew exactly where the hotel was located as we snaked our way onto the freeway, I watched him navigate the freeway without regard for lane markings or speed limits and 30 minutes later we were into the city outskirts.
A short while thereafter we pulled up onto a long arched cobblestone driveway where bellhops immediately sprang into action opening doors and retrieving my luggage. I was escorted along a red carpet that sat upon smooth black obsidian square tiles that lead towards to the main concierge desk which hung off to my right. There I checked in with an absolutely helpful fellow. He looked at the print A4 sheet of paper for my room booking with a playful smirk as if to say “Oh that’s sweet” and asked to swipe my credit card. I explained I had already paid for the room and he agreed that I had indeed done so, he explained that this was to cover any related ongoing expenses such as the mini bar. I excused myself and handed him the card and soon I was issued my room key, a credit card device and cheerfully the concierge wishes me goodnight, he hoped that I would enjoy my stay with us and pointed me to an elevator where I journeyed up to my room.
When I arrived at the room I was so clumsy it was frightful. Easy enough I thumbed the credit card style room key against the lock and hear the door’s unlocking mechanism unlock and then I pushed open the door to a black room with no lights.
I stumbled around in the dark until my eyes adjusted and I found that only the hallway emergency light was working. After some fumbling around I realised that the room key needs to sit inside the slot by the door to allow the room’s power circuits to function.
With the first challenge met and conquered I opened the curtains and take in the lights of the city, I gasped at the dense thickness to it all, “wow” I thought, I was finally here.
I unpacked a few things and arranged some items in the bathroom and on my desk and then lay back on the bed closest to the window and reached for the remote control and turned on the TV.
The double pillows were thick and heavy and I propped myself up, my hands closed together on my belly as a sign of satisfaction, I smiled at having arrived safely and thought – “what’s next?”.
My routine at this point involved opening a warm beer, followed by a call to the concierge to see if Mr Jeffery had arrived, the concierge advised Mr Jeff had arrived earlier that day and was staying in a room across the hall, so I ask if he can connect me to his room and he does. I have quick greeting exchange with Jeff who then wanders across the hall to my room. He’s been half asleep since this evening and he looks different to how I remember, his acne is gone and he’s bulked up and is perhaps a little taller than me. We make small talk for about 2 seconds and then agree to meet up around 9-ish and I say good night and he goes back to bed.
And try as I might I can’t get to sleep, I’m too excited, too happy, too thrilled to be here. So I busy myself with unpacking, I do a run-down check of my list of things to do and buy, pop a valium and then a wave of sleep hits me like a puffy cloud and soon I’m carried off to sleep and drool happily from the corner mouth onto my pillow an dream dreams of wish fulfilment and a land called Cythera.
Once inside the back of the taxi a gentle calm came over me, Oh it was nice, I lounged about freely with no seatbelt, I stretched out tried neck and back muscles against the smooth leather. With the electric window half way down and the aircon working it’s charm, I took in the lights of distant tower block apartments and marvelled at how much of the street signs and billboard advertising were in English. Thankfully the driver knew exactly where the hotel was located as we snaked our way onto the freeway, I watched him navigate the freeway without regard for lane markings or speed limits and 30 minutes later we were into the city outskirts.
A short while thereafter we pulled up onto a long arched cobblestone driveway where bellhops immediately sprang into action opening doors and retrieving my luggage. I was escorted along a red carpet that sat upon smooth black obsidian square tiles that lead towards to the main concierge desk which hung off to my right. There I checked in with an absolutely helpful fellow. He looked at the print A4 sheet of paper for my room booking with a playful smirk as if to say “Oh that’s sweet” and asked to swipe my credit card. I explained I had already paid for the room and he agreed that I had indeed done so, he explained that this was to cover any related ongoing expenses such as the mini bar. I excused myself and handed him the card and soon I was issued my room key, a credit card device and cheerfully the concierge wishes me goodnight, he hoped that I would enjoy my stay with us and pointed me to an elevator where I journeyed up to my room.
When I arrived at the room I was so clumsy it was frightful. Easy enough I thumbed the credit card style room key against the lock and hear the door’s unlocking mechanism unlock and then I pushed open the door to a black room with no lights.
I stumbled around in the dark until my eyes adjusted and I found that only the hallway emergency light was working. After some fumbling around I realised that the room key needs to sit inside the slot by the door to allow the room’s power circuits to function.
With the first challenge met and conquered I opened the curtains and take in the lights of the city, I gasped at the dense thickness to it all, “wow” I thought, I was finally here.
I unpacked a few things and arranged some items in the bathroom and on my desk and then lay back on the bed closest to the window and reached for the remote control and turned on the TV.
The double pillows were thick and heavy and I propped myself up, my hands closed together on my belly as a sign of satisfaction, I smiled at having arrived safely and thought – “what’s next?”.
My routine at this point involved opening a warm beer, followed by a call to the concierge to see if Mr Jeffery had arrived, the concierge advised Mr Jeff had arrived earlier that day and was staying in a room across the hall, so I ask if he can connect me to his room and he does. I have quick greeting exchange with Jeff who then wanders across the hall to my room. He’s been half asleep since this evening and he looks different to how I remember, his acne is gone and he’s bulked up and is perhaps a little taller than me. We make small talk for about 2 seconds and then agree to meet up around 9-ish and I say good night and he goes back to bed.
And try as I might I can’t get to sleep, I’m too excited, too happy, too thrilled to be here. So I busy myself with unpacking, I do a run-down check of my list of things to do and buy, pop a valium and then a wave of sleep hits me like a puffy cloud and soon I’m carried off to sleep and drool happily from the corner mouth onto my pillow an dream dreams of wish fulfilment and a land called Cythera.
Hi guys,
Well…I made it. The journey in was like a scene out of Lost in translation.
The flight was alrite, though I’m amazed i fit into the seat.
The inflight screens sewn into the chair in front are terrific, with the handset there’s so much to do.
But my back, wow, i changed positions so many times to ease the strain on what must have been a steel chair support stabbing right into the centre of my back.
Touch down...then I’m wandering through the airport, looking for a connecting shuttle to the main terminal and then looking for luggage, instinctively I find my way by nose and pretty soon I’m organising a cab right where Kels said the counter would be. I pre-paid as recommended then we take an on ramp to an ever spiralling freeway. My driver, seemingly unconcerned by lane markings, is moving out at top speed in this dizzy proton saloon. I stare out the window, marvelled at all of the tall stack apartment blocks yet i am equally in awe at how much signage is in English.
Check-in, the hotel concierge was fantastic very helpful.
I wake up Jeff after arriving at around 12.30 and he’s been dozing.
Check-in, the hotel concierge was fantastic very helpful.
I wake up Jeff after arriving at around 12.30 and he’s been dozing.
As for the hotel itself, well… it is kinda dated, first impressions aren’t everything though right?
Weird, is that my toilet very low, difficult for a person of my carriage.
Also, i couldn't get to sleep last nite, I was so excited, I even watched a crap in-house movie just to stay awake but there is a constant buzzing noise coming from the middle light console of my room. Bah! Valium will fix that.
Tomorrow I’ll get a phone number sorted, i might change rooms.
The internet in my room is in-active and buzzing noise and the bar fridge is not working which was too bad for me last nite as I wanted a beverage to take the edge off.
We’re off to go shopping on Sunday, I need to dress according to what some Aussies here have told us, no thongs no singlets.
Weird, is that my toilet very low, difficult for a person of my carriage.
Also, i couldn't get to sleep last nite, I was so excited, I even watched a crap in-house movie just to stay awake but there is a constant buzzing noise coming from the middle light console of my room. Bah! Valium will fix that.
Tomorrow I’ll get a phone number sorted, i might change rooms.
The internet in my room is in-active and buzzing noise and the bar fridge is not working which was too bad for me last nite as I wanted a beverage to take the edge off.
We’re off to go shopping on Sunday, I need to dress according to what some Aussies here have told us, no thongs no singlets.
Oh and the Moustache has gone over real well too.
More later,
Brosef
Kelly’s response:
Woohoo! You made it.
Am so glad you managed to find the taxi voucher counter.
What do you think of the hotel apart from the room? Have you seen the club lounge yet?
The taxi drivers are crazy bastards - road rules - what road rules???
Don't forget if you are taking any taxi's anywhere from the front of the hotel, and you want one that uses the meter - TAKE THE PPREMIER TAXI'S - they are all blue (the red ones are the budget ones). Just walk past the front of the hotel, and they are all lined up. They will put the meter on and not bend you over by haggling over the price. None of the budget taxi's will put the meter on and WILL rip you off.
Don't forget if you are planning on going up the Petronas towers (and you should - it is amazing) - the tickets are free, but you have to get there early, as they only release a few thousand a day.
If you go to "the ship" for dinner - you will get a great steak, and the chicken kiev ....mmmmmmm. There is one just across the road from your hotel, but go to the one on bukit bintang, across the road from BB plaza.
The best money changer is on the ground floor of BB plaza (just walk down the stairs and it is the first money changer on your right). What is the exchange rate at the moment?? Should be about 3 to 1.
If you go to "the ship" for dinner - you will get a great steak, and the chicken kiev ....mmmmmmm. There is one just across the road from your hotel, but go to the one on bukit bintang, across the road from BB plaza.
The best money changer is on the ground floor of BB plaza (just walk down the stairs and it is the first money changer on your right). What is the exchange rate at the moment?? Should be about 3 to 1.
There is only one thing I need you to do for me - go to the Coffee Bean (there are quite a few around) - and have a VANILLA (coffee or non coffee) ICE BLEND. It is the best thing you will ever taste, and I have at least 3 a day when I am in KL.
I am so fucking jealous of you being there without me!!!!!!!
Enjoy your cocktails tonight ... bastard .... ha ha
Email me with any questions, especially when you go to china town (Petaling street).
Enjoy your cocktails tonight ... bastard .... ha ha
Email me with any questions, especially when you go to china town (Petaling street).
Xx
From your knocked up sister
From your knocked up sister
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